Arrest made in slaying of Phylicia Barnes

Police arrested a man in connection with the slaying of Phylicia Barnes, the 16-year-old North Carolina teen who vanished after visiting her sister and found dead months later in the Susquehanna River.

Michael Johnson, 28, was arrested late Wednesday at his home, Baltimore police said. Authorities announced Thursday he has been indicted by a grand jury on a first-degree murder charge in the death of the 16-year-old Barnes, who went missing on Dec. 28, 2010, while visiting relatives in Baltimore during the Christmas holidays. Her body was found in April 2011.

At a news conference, Baltimore State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein said that he “hopes this will provide [the family] with some measure of closure,” The Baltimore Sun reported. He declined to comment on specifics of the investigation, including how Barnes was killed and what evidence led to Johnson’s arrest.

“I cannot overstate how much effort and dedication have been invested to achieve justice in this tragic case. The Baltimore City Police, Maryland State Police, the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office, the FBI and my staff worked relentlessly to bring us to this point,” Bernstein added in a written statement.

Police say Johnson had once dated Barnes’ 27-year-old half-sister Deena and was the last person to see Barnes alive. The three were in Deena’s apartment the day Barnes disappeared, according to police.

“It’s been a long day coming. It’s a bittersweet day,” Barnes’ father, Russell Barnes, told The Associated Press upon news of an arrest. “I can rest better and maybe Phylicia can rest a whole lot better.”

Barnes was a senior at Union Academy near Charlotte, N.C., where she was expecting to graduate a year ahead of others her age, and go to college.